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Chapter 5 - Exploring Types of Organizational Change and Differential Effects on Employee Well-Being and Personal Development

from Part III - Change in Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2023

By
Joris Van Ruysseveldt ,
Karen van Dam ,
Hans De Witte  and
Irina Nikolova
Edited by
Shaul Oreg ,
Alexandra Michel  and
Rune Todnem By
Shaul Oreg
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Alexandra Michel
Affiliation:
Universität Heidelberg
Rune Todnem By
Affiliation:
Universitet i Stavanger, Norway
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Summary

Past decades have shown an increase in research into employee responses to organizational change (OC). However, little attention has been paid to the impact of the type of change. Different types of change are likely to affect change recipients’ learning and well-being in a different way. Our study aimed to identify OC types and investigate whether these are differentially associated with employee responses. Exploring OC types, two dimensions were distinguished and combined: a qualitative axis representing the prevalence of innovation; and a quantitative axis distinguishing between growth and decline. In a representative sample of private sector employees from a longitudinal survey, cluster analyses identified six OC types. We investigated whether these OC types are differentially associated with active workplace learning and emotional exhaustion. Results indicated that active learning is stimulated by OC types characterized by innovation/growth, while OC types characterized by decline and restructuring without innovation are associated with higher emotional exhaustion. In conclusion, various OC types revealed differential effects on employee personal development and well-being.

Keywords

types of organizational changeinnovationrestructuringdownsizingwell-beingemotional exhaustionpersonal developmentactive learningworkplace learningemployee change reactions
Type
Chapter
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The Psychology of Organizational Change
New Insights on the Antecedents and Consequences of Individuals' Responses to Change
 , pp. 95 - 119
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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